The Prince Albert Raiders are one win away from heading to the WHL Final, but the Medicine Hat Tigers didn’t make it easy.
The Raiders led 4-1 heading into the third before the Tigers scored twice in the first 10 minutes to make it a one goal game. The Raiders or their fans didn’t panic, however.
While the sell-out crowd of 3,299 enthusiastically, but unsuccessfully, tried to start the wave, the Raiders locked down the Medicine Hat offence, and scored two empty net goals to secure a 6-3 win.
“I think that’s just the name of our game,” said forward Owen Corkish, who scored one of those two empty netters. “(That’s) hardnosed hockey right there. We just got the job done at the end of the period. We kept it simple, got pucks in deep, and came out with the win.”
That goal not only iced Prince Albert’s win, it completed Corkish’s first WHL hat trick.
The Cottage Grove, Minn. product picked up a loose puck inside the Raiders zone and fired a roughly 150 foot shot right in the centre of the Tiger net with 2:31 to play. The goal sparked a celebration on the Raider bench, while rink attendants hustled across the ice to scoop up a few dozen hats that tumbled over the glass.
“I just put one-and-one together and tried to go for it to see what happens,” Corkish said with a smile after the game. “Fortunately, it went in.”
Corkish’s first goal came 22 seconds into the second period when he tipped a Justice Christensen point shot through Tiger goaltender Casey Carter’s legs. His second came midway through the period, and proved to be the game winner.
Raiders head coach Ryan McDonald said the line of Corkish, Aiden Oiring, and Brayden Dube were “dynamic” all night.
“They were on the right side of pucks,” McDonald said. “They checked really well. They got their offensive chances and when they did they capitalized on them and really used their speed tonight.”
Corkish’s game winner was great exhibition of how the line played. Dube cut-off a Tiger clearing attempt along the side boards, and fed a perfect pass to Corkish, who stood all alone at the side of the net. The Raider winger fired a shot into the top shelf, and the Raiders had all the offence they would need.
“It’s all the linemates,” Corkish said. “You can’t do anything by yourself. Those two guys, AO and Doober, they’re just excellent players and even better human beings, so it was pretty awesome.”
In what’s become a familiar theme this series, the Raiders dominated play right out of the gate, but struggled to put the Central Division Champions away. Prince Albert outshot Medicine Hat 16-3 in the first period, and almost took a 1-0 lead into the first intermission thanks to an Alisher Sarkenov goal. However, Tiger defenceman Jonas Woo beat Michal Orsulak with 2:50 to go in the opening frame.
Unlike Game 3, where the shutdown Tigers held off the Raider attack long enough to win in overtime, Prince Albert’s quickly re-asserted itself in the second.
Ben Harvey deposited a Maddix McCagherty pass into a wide-pen net to complete Prince Albert’s three goal second period outburst.
McDonald said the Raiders deserved credit remaining calm despite carrying the play without having a lead to show for it. That calmness showed up in the third period two, when the Raiders buckled down after the two Medicine Hat goals.
“Give our guys credit,” McDonald said. “We hand a tonne of shots on the scoreboard and it comes out 1-1 after the first period. (It was) kind of a reset mode in the second period.”
“They’re a good team. You can’t give them chances. They have the ability to put them in the back of the net,” he added. “I really liked our guys’ calmness tonight. They (Medicine Hat) got those two in the third and guys were even-keeled. We just continued to go about our business and continued to win our battles.”
Third period goals from Ethan Neutans and Josh Van Mulligen gave Tiger fans hopes of a comeback. Medicine Hat now faces a must-win Game 6 back home on Sunday.
Tigers head coach Willie Desjardins said the Raiders were by far the better hockey club Friday night, especially in the first period.
“We let them get off to a great start—which we can’t do in their building,” Desjardins said. “We were so lucky to come out of it 1-1. Then, it was great to come back in the third.
“When we got the first one, you knew we had a chance,” he added. “Then we got the second and we had some looks to get the third as well. We just didn’t get it. They bent a little bit, but they didn’t break. They stayed with their game plan but they didn’t pull it out.”
Desjardins credited his team for coming back in the third to make it a one goal game, but said the Tigers needed to be more aggressive if they’re going to be successful.
“They (Prince Albert) have got lots of speed, and the worst thing with speed is to back up,” he said. “You’ve got to be aggressive on speed and gap up and handle it. We’ve got to be better in the face-off circle too. They were really good in the face-off circle, so give them credit, but they’ve got to win another one.”
Game 6 is scheduled for Sunday in Medicine Hat. Game 7, if necessary, will be in Prince Albert on Tuesday.
News and Notes:
• Brayden Dube scored the second empty net goal for Prince Albert. Dube also assisted on Corkish’s game winner.
• Michal Orsulak made 25 saves to earn the win, none bigger than a glove stop on Yaroslav Bryzgalov, who broke in all alone after Braeden Cootes lost an edge and slid out of the play. However, the move that generated the most buzz game shortly after Corkish’s empty net goal, with Orsulak grasped a Tiger dump-in, and took aim at the open net at the opposite end of the rink. Unfortunately for the Czech netminder, his shot slid wide of the left post.
• Casey Carter turned away 41 shots in his first start since Game 1. Carter also made a relief appearance in Game 4.
• Brandon Gorzynski did not dress for the Raiders. The Scottsdale, Arizona product has not been in the line-up since leaving Game 2 with an injury.
• Luke Cozens was not in the line-up for Medicine Hat. Niilopekka Muhonen and Game 3 OT hero Liam Ruck were back in the line-up after missing Game 4.
• The 50/50 winner took home $87,795.
